The latest LSL house price index found that the average house price in England and Wales stood at £231,170 at the end of April, up 3% on the previous year.

Richard Sexton, director of e.surv, said that Funding for Lending and other government schemes were reinvigorating mortgage lending and pushing up property prices.

“The catalyst has been a significantly improved mortgage market,” he said.

“Sales are 18% higher than they were last year, reflecting the improved conditions for buyers. A plethora of excellent mortgage deals are surfacing, cheaper mortgages have trickled into the market and low interest rates too have led to a boost in buyer activity.

“The impact of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) has been significant, allowing banks and building societies to accelerate lending levels to a wider pool of borrowers. Gradually, competitive rates have emerged which should mean we will see a solid improvement to lending levels in 2013.”

As usual, the overall market growth was heavily dependent on the Greater London region with property prices in the capital jumping 10.6% in the last three years. Without London the national rise in prices would have been 1.1%.

Outside of London the Brighton & Hove, Cambridgeshire, City of Bristol and Wokingham districts all saw house prices reach an all-time high.

“Strong performance of the London market is dragging up the average UK house price and glossing over weaknesses elsewhere in the country, particularly the north of England and most of Wales,” added Sexton.

“This is due to the lightning fast speed of growth in the capital. Here the widening gap is also conspicuous between housing types and income groups. London is seeing a rise of 5% (2010-11) and 5.7% (2011-12) in properties sold for £1m+, while the rest of the country sees a drop of -5.3% and -8.5%.

“London’s share of the whole £1m market and £2m property market has grown rapidly, outdoing its counterparts, suggesting wealthy buyers still form a disproportionately large share of the market.”